Public vs Private Cloud - Which is right for your business?

Firstly, what are the main differences between public and private cloud computing environments?

Public Cloud provides IT resources that are provisioned remotely from the consumer and operated by a third party such as Amazon services. These cloud environments and resources (CPUs. Memory, Storage) are often shared between multiple users which can lend themselves to security concerns.

In a Private Cloud, the infrastructure policies are governed by a single organization where workloads and data can be moved to and from internal and external data centers. Private Clouds provide an organization a single point of control for security, manageability, privacy, audit, compliance and governance. The client typically owns the cloud environment and all resources are dedicated to that client. This typically provides for a more secure environment.

Small businesses will typically choose a public cloud environment as costs to small businesses are lower and deployment of applications are typically simpler for small business owners to manage. However as businesses grow beyond about 25 users costs are usually lower to deploy a private cloud solution as you scale up the cost per user decreases whereas a public cloud solution typically has a fixed per user cost.

There are however some instances where the public cloud is not appropriate despite the size of the business. Types of businesses where the private cloud would be preferable or even necessary are:

• Regulated Business such as health care, financial services, government agencies
• Companies that need an ironclad disaster recovery and business continuity plan
• Companies that handle a large amount of financial data such as credit cards or social security number

Take a look at the info-graphic above for an illustration of public vs. private cloud computing and if your business is thinking of migrating to the cloud contact one of our Solutions Consultants who can help you determine which options are best for your business.